Anyone have experience of using Airbnb as a property owner?

[PNWbrit]

I just rented somewhere through them for the first time... very slick process.

We use vrbo/homeaway for our vacation rental already.. what's the owner's experience like with listing through airbnb?

[liv2ski]

Have not done it yet, but once I do, I will look into supplement insurance coverage covering the tenant trashing the place and pass the premium onto them, rather than asking for a refundable security deposit of $500

[MontuckyFried]

Airbnb sucks as a property owner. I did it for a while, as well as VRBO and others. Whereas VRBO/Homeaway's great because they make it easy to deal with payments, communication, etc., Airbnb sees fit to edit your e-mails, like blocking out URLs you might want to send guests (like resort info), phone numbers, and more. They also don't release payment to you until the guest checks in. Whereas VRBO pays you pretty much once they get paid. VRBO gives you much more authority over how you manage your place.

It was a lot of effort to deal with and I rarely saw bookings through them. Sure, it's free to list on, but wasn't worth the hassle at all. VRBO/Homeaway's totally worth the premium you pay. Far more bookings and far easier to manage. My advice? Don't bother with anybody else if you're already on VRBO. FWIW, Booking.com's even worse than Airbnb. Flipkey was an ok service, and we actually got a few bookings through them, but I also didn't like that they wanted to "protect both parties" by filtering your communiques. SO annoying. We fired them too. Stayed booked solid with just the one service, so we simplified a lot. Tried 'em all.

[PNWbrit]

Thanks Austin. That kind of confirms what I guessed...

[Name Redacted]

Looked into it, but we went with VRBO. Airbnb seems like is more popular in some places, and not in others whereas vrbo is the standard.

[Art Shirk]

Airbnb has its upsides for urban joints.

[4matic]

I have some friends that Aribnb a room. It's so odd. Like a Seinfeld episode. Having drinks and some stranger walks by.

[PNWbrit]

I have some friends that Aribnb a room. It's so odd. Like a Seinfeld episode. Having drinks and some stranger walks by.

I don't understand how anyone can do that.. as owner or renter... too weird.

Favorite VRBO owner/punter interaction.... I'd been emailing back and forward with someone wanting to rent my cabin for a weekend a few summers back. He'd been asking to cut him a deal. Because he'd "researched all the other competing properties" and I was "ridiculously overpriced"

I was all set to tell him to go fuck himself. He's obviously trouble, clearly an habitual complainer.

Then I get an email asking, "how far we are from the golf course?".... well there's a crappy public course in Enumclaw about 20 minutes away. But apparently he meant, "the one at the ski area actually at Crystal."

I tell him there isn't one - but I had noticed they had a frisbee golf course set up when I was there at the weekend.

Well apparently I needed to "get a clue" about my property and the area because he is "playing in the ProAm there in September".

Being the nice guy I am...... I gently pointed out that he probably means the Crystal Mountain in Michigan?

Probably should have kept sch-tum and just rented it to him I guess. I wonder when he'd have realized?

[MontuckyFried]

He'd been asking to cut him a deal. Because he'd "researched all the other competing properties" and I was "ridiculously overpriced"

Haha. Those are always the best. My units were dang near the cheapest ones in town and people would always tell me the same exact thing. People would constantly ask me to give them discounts (even though our calender was always pretty much full), waive cleaning fees, resort taxes, etc. They'd say things like well I can get a 3bed/3bath chalet for like half the cost of your 2bed/2bath. My response was always "That's a great price! You should definitely go for that one instead then!" They'd usually end up booking with me anyway with zero discounts within a day or so. As it was, I wasn't making a ton of money, so I'd have to explain to people that if I cut my rates down any further that I'd be LOSING money. Especially since I have to pay the cleaners no matter what. $75/night (off season) for a nice 2 bedroom place that was stocked, had a hot tub, and pretty loaded with amenities, with my cleaners charging me $140 regardless of the length of stay. "So....let me get this straight. You want me to rent the place to you for $150, with me paying $140, and get a discount? That puts me at negative income. Yeah...GTFO."

Don't know about you, but in my experience whenever I DID give people deals (only did that when I was getting started....needed reviews), those guests were 9 times out of 10 my absolute most terrible guests. Being a total PITA or trashing the place. The people who never asked any favors always ended up being my best guests, being the most respectful to the property and always great to work with. Odd correlation.

[PNWbrit]

Don't know about you, but in my experience whenever I DID give people deals (only did that when I was getting started....needed reviews), those guests were 9 times out of 10 my absolute most terrible guests. Being a total PITA or trashing the place. The people who never asked any favors always ended up being my best guests, being the most respectful to the property and always great to work with. Odd correlation.

Yep.

I'm pretty much at the point where I'll just not rent to anyone who asks for anything beyond the ad/prices. Occupancy rate isn't a big deal I just rent a handful of weekends a season to help cover the overhead. I've turned away some bizarre enquirers.. batchelor/ette parties, A woman renting it for her Daughter to have friends there (alone) for her 18th birthday. Someone demanding a military discount.. "how fucking dare I not offer one!" Countless what will the weather/snow be like in X months time. One woman who had the 6 members of her group each send me their share of payment... well one guy didn't send it. When I explained she couldn't have access to cabin until I got paid in full she told me I'd have to take that up with him... WTF?

... oh and a guy who tried to sublet his rental weekend on craigslist.

[BmillsSkier]

Yep.

I'm pretty much at the point where I'll just not rent to anyone who asks for anything beyond the ad/prices. Occupancy rate isn't a big deal I just rent a handful of weekends a season to help cover the overhead. I've turned away some bizarre enquirers.. batchelor/ette parties, A woman renting it for her Daughter to have friends there (alone) for her 18th birthday. Someone demanding a military discount.. "how fucking dare I not offer one!" Countless what will the weather/snow be like in X months time. One woman who had the 6 members of her group each send me their share of payment... well one guy didn't send it. When I explained she couldn't have access to cabin until I got paid in full she told me I'd have to take that up with him... WTF?

... oh and a guy who tried to sublet his rental weekend on craigslist.

Heh, so what happened with the 6th guy?

[PNWbrit]

Heh, so what happened with the 6th guy?

I cancelled their reservation under the contract terms for non-payment which also allowed me to retain most (if not all) of what they had paid since it was under a week from rental.

Then rented it to someone else.

Win, win. Errr win

[BmillsSkier]

Ha, I bet that was a fun conversation the other 5 had with that guy.

I'm surprised these systems allow for multiple forms of payment. Sure it's convenient for the renters, but it has to be a little bit of a pain for the owner.

[PNWbrit]

I'm surprised these systems allow for multiple forms of payment. Sure it's convenient for the renters, but it has to be a little bit of a pain for the owner.

This wasn't using VRBO payment system. Was check due with signed rental agreement,

[sfotex]

Been trying out the airbnb thing our in-law apartment with separate apartment for the last few months. Mostly been pretty good. Just had a guy that left that had a dog down there against rules that pissed/pooped everywhere. I had the carpet guy come clean it up and submitted a bill thru airbnb for $160. Got an angry response today:

Pretty unsettling to read this message trying to charge me more money. It is pretty outrageous to read that my "dog peed/pooped all over the house and that you needed to to clean the tiles and carpet to get "oder" caused my 13 pound dog, particularly in your house which smells like the horses you have in your yard, and has 2 large dogs living inside and crapping in the yard. It seems you are not being truthful and trying to take advantage of me and I will fight vehemently against this.

First of all, as always when I travel, the only criteria I use to find hotels and places like I did in airbnb is that they are pet friendly. With so many pet friendly options why do anything else. In addition when i checked in a day late without asking for refunds not to disappoint, I met your wife and she opened up for me very well knowing I had a dog in a carrier, as your German Shepherd came directly to us and we talked about it.

I travel with my well behaved small dog all the time. She always does her necessities in a pad. So it is preposterous what your trying to state that she peed/pooped "all over", she NEVER peed once out of place, and her pad was NOT even in the kitchen or room as the bill states. There was absolutely no odor left.

The money is the least of the issues, even if I have to spend much more than $165 for legal resources, I will gladly do it instead of paying this attempted scam. Will also look fwd into writing a review including this nonsense after the fact. People should be aware what to expect.

I repeat that I will not allow to be taken advantage of, and look forward to a prompt resolution to this, you can do it accepting my $1 counter offer, as I could not enter what you deserve $0.

I'm interested to see what Airbnb does with it.

[Art Shirk]

Been trying out the airbnb thing our in-law apartment with separate apartment for the last few months. Mostly been pretty good. Just had a guy that left that had a dog down there against rules that pissed/pooped everywhere. I had the carpet guy come clean it up and submitted a bill thru airbnb for $160. Got an angry response today:

I'm interested to see what Airbnb does with it.

[MontuckyFried]

Been trying out the airbnb thing our in-law apartment with separate apartment for the last few months. Mostly been pretty good. Just had a guy that left that had a dog down there against rules that pissed/pooped everywhere. I had the carpet guy come clean it up and submitted a bill thru airbnb for $160. Got an angry response today:

I'm interested to see what Airbnb does with it.

Oh, man. That sucks. We had a clear no pet policy at our place too per HOA rules for renters actually. Lady admitted she knew the rules and 1 hour before check-in asked if it was cool that she brought her "well behaved" little Fido with her. We told her we had to be strict about it and she'd have to find other accommodations for her little friend. She had a daughter in town so it wasn't a huge deal, but lady was pissed. Left all sorts of nasty comments that were untrue. We had already bent over backwards to accommodate this very high-needs guest in other ways, so the dog was where we had to draw the line. Glad we didn't cave.

WTF is wrong with people? So glad I'm getting out of the rental business. Haha.

[LightRanger]

This is an amusing thread. I've always gone through VRBO as a renter. Great places/experience.

P.S.- Who uses "puppy pads" long-term? Was the dog a puppy? If not, teach your dog to hold it and shit/piss outside. Dumbasses.

[KQ]

Oh, man. That sucks. We had a clear no pet policy at our place too per HOA rules for renters actually. Lady admitted she knew the rules and 1 hour before check-in asked if it was cool that she brought her "well behaved" little Fido with her. We told her we had to be strict about it and she'd have to find other accommodations for her little friend. She had a daughter in town so it wasn't a huge deal, but lady was pissed. Left all sorts of nasty comments that were untrue. We had already bent over backwards to accommodate this very high-needs guest in other ways, so the dog was where we had to draw the line. Glad we didn't cave.

WTF is wrong with people? So glad I'm getting out of the rental business. Haha.

I've always been curious - what do you do if you have a "no animals" policy and someone shows up with animal in tow claiming it is a licensed companion animal? Do discrimination laws apply to private homeowners renting rooms/homes like any other business?

This is an amusing thread. I've always gone through VRBO as a renter. Great places/experience.

P.S.- Who uses "puppy pads" long-term? Was the dog a puppy? If not, teach your dog to hold it and shit/piss outside. Dumbasses.

I had a friend who used "puppy pads" because she lived in a condo and worked long hours. Kinda icky but I suppose it's better than having the dog go on your carpet (it was a Yorkie)

[PNWbrit]

I've always been curious - what do you do if you have a "no animals" policy and someone shows up with animal in tow claiming it is a licensed companion animal? Do discrimination laws apply to private homeowners renting rooms/homes like any other business?)

These kind of airbnb and vrbo rentals aren't considered places of public accommodation and aren't subject to ADA or the like.

So yes you can refuse a "licenced" Yorkie that is going to shit on a pad indoors.

[galibier_numero_un]

Don't know about you, but in my experience whenever I DID give people deals (only did that when I was getting started....needed reviews), those guests were 9 times out of 10 my absolute most terrible guests. Being a total PITA or trashing the place. The people who never asked any favors always ended up being my best guests, being the most respectful to the property and always great to work with. Odd correlation.

This has unfortunately been the case in my bushiness as well (not b&b). Of course, the good news is that after this painful learning experience (and the "tuition" paid), we now have another means of pre-qualifying our customers

Cheers,
Thom

[4matic]

These kind of airbnb and vrbo rentals aren't considered places of public accommodation and aren't subject to ADA or the like.

So yes you can refuse a "licenced" Yorkie that is going to shit on a pad indoors.

I'd like to see that hold up on your illegal hotel room sold illegally and administered illegally. Are you paying local taxes on your illegal hotel income? Denying a licensed companion animal in your illegal business would be an interesting court case. Any lawyers care to comment?

Found this on a two second search:

Airbnb is in Washington trying to get their name cleared up so their user can more confidently use their site without the fear of breaking their local laws.

Each state has their own law, but the common thread is that short term leases are in fact illegal. There are ways around it if you want to jump through hoops, fill out heaps of paperwork and deal with your local city administrators who can’t even fully explain the laws themselves. However, is it worth it? If you find yourself wanting to rent your place out for longer periods of time or frequently throughout the year, then you can of course look into obtaining a permit or license so that you don’t face thousands of dollars worth of fines plus a massive headache.

Here is State law with regard to taxes. You owe them:

http://dor.wa.gov/content/findtaxesa...ansrental.aspx

[PNWbrit]

Here is State law with regard to taxes. You owe them:

Has zero relevance to the tort action you and your Yorkie are proposing to bring.

In any event my place is pet friendly

[4matic]

Has zero relevance to the tort action you and your Yorkie are proposing to bring.

In any event my place is pet friendly

So are you paying the required state and local taxers or not? If you are not then it's ok for you to ignore the rules on taxation but when when of your illegal business clients does something you can enforce the rules as you see fit? Double standard?

[PNWbrit]

I might also have gone slighty over the speed limit driving to work today.